UFO Fair makes for out-of-this-world day in Pine Bush

All over town Saturday, there were blow-up figures of space aliens, mostly green, sometimes purple, with oversized heads and swollen eyes, as the hamlet celebrated its fourth annual UFO Fair.

Richard J. Bayne

PINE BUSH — All over town Saturday, there were blow-up figures of space aliens, mostly green, sometimes purple, with oversized heads and swollen eyes, as the hamlet celebrated its fourth annual UFO Fair.

Pine Bush has a long history of UFO sightings, dating back at least back to the 1920s. Folks in the business community have seized on the alien fascination to get people to visit their hamlet that sits on the northern tip of Orange County.

Over at Pine Bush House bed and breakfast on Maple Avenue, proprietor Barbara Grey, dressed in a green, polka-dot outfit, was booked solid. Alien figures hung from her front porch and a psychic was doing readings for $20 for 20 minutes.

Organizers said 7,000 people came last year, and they were hoping for at least that many this year.

But beyond all the fun on Main Street, a controversy has been hovering over Pine Bush and its school district.

Three Jewish families have filed suit, claiming their children were subjected to anti-Semitic harassment. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered an investigation.

Grey said she hopes the fun of the annual festival helps to bring the community together and bring out the good.

"You hear things about bullying," said Grey, who moved up from North Carolina, "but there's a lot of good in this town."

Domanie Ragni, the Town of Crawford's community services director and a key UFO Fair organizer, said the anti-Semitic allegations have been "exaggerated" and that Saturday's day of "positive events" should help bring the community together.

As for aliens, Ragni said she's not a believer, but a lot of people she respects have seen aliens.

Over at the Pine Bush Area Library, author Barbara Zimmerman, who lives in Chester, gave two lectures about eerie UFO incidents.

Why would aliens be drawn to Pine Bush? Maybe it's the topography, or minerals or the water, Zimmerman said.

Crawford police Chief Dominick Blasko, talking about aliens from his post — blocking off three blocks of Main Street — said that as far as he concerned, it's all been lights from passing airplanes.

What would he do if a flying saucer landed in the middle of Main Street?

"I'd set up a perimeter and call the federal government," Blasko said.